potato leek soup with black pepper biscuits

wow, potato leek soup is so cool.  it’s like, the cheapest, simplest thing ever!  and it looks, sounds, and tastes hard and fancy!  I based this on julia child’s recipe, which i basically read as equal amounts of leeks, potatoes, and water.  salt to taste.  so simple — can you even believe it? potato leek soup: leeks potatoes water salt pepper sour cream/creme fraiche (optional) parsley or chives for garnish prepare the leeks by cutting off the excess dark green end, leaving a couple inches of the more tender green intact.  leaving the roots on, cut lengthwise, then rotate 90 degrees and slice again.  the roots will hold it together while the slices open up the leaves so you can wash out the dirt caught in there.  give ‘em a good bath, using your fingers to separate the layers enough that they can get clean.  chop up the leeks into smallish pieces (doesn’t need to be too neat, they’ll get blended in the end). peel the potatoes (i used yukon gold potatoes which are in season right now), and dice into medium pieces (again, it’ll get blended in the end). when you have an equal amount of leeks and potatoes, throw them in a big pot, and cover with cool water. if you add too much, you can let it evaporate off, if there’s not enough, you can always add a little more. add a decent amount of salt to the whole thing, and put it on a high flame to bring it to a boil.  once it’s rolling, turn it down to a simmer and cover.  cook until the potatoes are falling apart, which could take an hour or four, depending on how much you’ve made. when it’s all nice and soft, puree it in a blender, food processor, or, ideally, with an immersion blender.  it should have a nice consistency like porridge.  serve it hot, drop a dollop of sour cream in the middle, crack black pepper over it, and sprinkle a pinch of chopped up chives or parsley over it for a garnish. we ate it for a meal with these great biscuits jill baked.  they’re pretty simple, but we loosely followed this easy recipe from the food network.  jill modified the recipe a little by replacing the buttermilk with cream, and leaving out a little of the flour cause it felt right.  also, we skipped the last step of brushing the top with butter, they were perfect right out of the oven.  oh, and it was mixed by hand, badass style.

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse twice to distribute the ingredients evenly. Scatter the butter over the top of the flour mixture and pulse 4 or 5 times or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the mixture just begins to come together.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Pat the dough into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cutter to make 8 biscuits then place them on the prepared baking sheet. Press together the scraps of dough, and repeat process. Place the biscuits on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with black pepper.

Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter.

Advertisement